A proposal for a Walmart Neighborhood Market at Campbell and Grand drew supporters and critics at Thursday's Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. News-Leader file photo

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News-Leader Staff

Timeline

Feb. 11: Dozens of supports and opponents of proposed Walmart grocery store speak at City Council meeting. Feb. 25: Council votes 5-4 to rezone church property from residential to general retail, paving way for Walmart grocery store March 26: Walmart opponents submit referendum petition but fall short on required number of signatures April 16: Walmart opponents re-submit petition with enough signatures May 21: Council votes to send the rezoning to voters on the Aug. 6 ballot May 29: Church and homeowners file petition seeking injunction May 30: Temporary injunction is granted, essentially canceling August election

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The Greene County Clerk has been sent a temporary restraining order blocking the Aug. 6 vote on zoning for a proposed Walmart grocery store on Grand Street, Springfield.

Clerk Richard Struckhoff views the order, issued by a judge Thursday, as preventing any sort of preparation of a ballot or progress toward holding the election.

Mayor Bob Stephens said the city can do nothing now but wait.

“It really depends on the decision of the judge,” he said. “If he rules the (election) petitioners (Walmart opponents) have no legal ground to stand on, the rezoning will be upheld.”

However, if the judge rules in favor of the Walmart opponents, the city will be “back to square one,” Stephens said.

Upset with Walmart’s plans, and arguing safety and other issues, those opponents had previously gathered enough signatures from registered voters on a referendum petition to force an election on the zoning issue. That came even though city council had given Walmart a stamp of approval to build the store.

Thursday’s temporary order is set to expire in mid-June, which Struckhoff believes will trigger a hearing in the case, and the order sets another hearing for July 19.

That makes timing a problem in holding an election in August — even if the case could be resolved quickly.

Struckhoff said it’s unclear whether any progress can be made on the creation of a ballot in time to schedule the election.

Judge Gerald McBeth issued the restraining order after a complaint in Greene County Circuit Court about possible damage an election could cause.

That complaint was filed by Life360 Church of the Assemblies of God and Robert and Jennifer Buchanan against City of Springfield officials.

The church wants to sell Walmart the property for the new store, and the petition says a decision against them would amount to harming them by not allowing them to sell property already under contract.

The petition filed by the church cites state law and the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution in its argument.

The petition states “the use of the referendum process for zoning decisions, regardless of the outcome of the ballot vote, constitutes an unconstitutional taking of property ... without compensation in violation of U.S. Constitution.”

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The petition also alleges that the city clerk improperly certified the referendum petition from Walmart opponents and that city council improperly voted on the referendum petition; the petition calls the referendum “procedurally defective.”

“The City Clerk improperly allowed the filers of the referendum petition to supplement additional signatures more than 30 days after the enactment of Ordinance No. 6038 in violation of 14.2 of the City Charter,” the petition says.

The petition also asks the court to rule that a referendum petition can’t overrule a planning and zoning issue.

That could, potentially, keep voters from having any say on future planning and zoning decisions.

The plan to build the 41,000-square-foot grocery store on property near Campbell Avenue and Grand Street — now home to the church and several houses — has sparked heated exchanges at council meetings and other public hearings.

Opponents have expressed concern about the effect the development will have on traffic and neighborhood safety, while also criticizing Walmart's business practices.

Supporters, including Walmart representatives and members of the church, say the store will be a boon to residents by providing jobs and access to fresh food.

Stephens said the lawsuit wasn’t a surprise.

“The only surprise might have been which party was going to file, whether it was the church, the homeowners or Walmart.”

McBeth was appointed to the case by the Missouri Supreme Court after all Greene County judges recused.

The Missouri Supreme Court has previously ruled that Springfield residents have a right to circulate petitions related to zoning.

In 1997, the court ruled that owners of a property near U.S. 65 and Battlefield Road who were denied rezoning by City Council had the right to try again using an initiative petition.

The court’s opinion noted that Springfield voters overwhelmingly rejected a City Charter amendment in 1994 that would have prevented petitions or referendum efforts related to zoning.